Survey: Younger consumers drive online growth, cite major delivery issues
Younger consumers have driven e-commerce in the past year – but they are not completely satisfied with the online experience.
Consumers aged 18-35 (“under 35s”) are the biggest contributor to online shopping growth, increasing both the volume and frequency of their purchases over the last 12 months compared to the prior year, According to a new report from commerce logistics firm Descartes Systems Group, Consumers aged 18-35 (“under 35s”). While 18% of overall consumers surveyed cut back on purchases during this period, 43% of under 35s increased their spending year over year compared to just under a third (32%) of over 65s.
More than a third (36%) of all consumers made more purchases in the past 12 months than the year prior, while almost half (46%) said they made the same number of online purchases as last year. Nearly half (44%) of under 35s made online purchases at least every two weeks, which is a significant jump over last year’s 33%.
For the younger demographic, however, their levels of dissatisfaction with home delivery remain high, with 79% reportedly experiencing delivery problems compared to 66% of overall consumers surveyed. Compared to findings in the Descartes’ previous three surveys, retailers and their delivery partners have yet to meet consumers' needs, with 67% (2024), 69% (2023) and 66% (2022) of total respondents reporting experiencing delivery issues.
The top two delivery issues cited by folks under 35s were late arrival (26%, compared to 19% for over 65s and 22% overall) and delivery arriving at a different time than expected (25%, compared to 16% for over 65s and 20% overall), while 15% (10% for over 65s, 12% overall) indicated the item never arrived at all. Other problems included drivers leaving the package in an unsecured location (19%, compared to 14% for over 65s and 17% overall) and product damage (22%, compared to 10% for under 65s and 16% overall).
[READ MORE: Survey: Gen Z, millennials use e-commerce, self-checkout to avoid other people]
In addition to concerns related to delivery timeliness and quality, 23% of under 35s indicated the delivery time offered was longer than acceptable, compared to 12% of over 65s and 17% overall. Furthermore, 13% of under 35s (3% for over 65s, 8% overall) signaled the delivery slots offered lacked flexibility and 17% (10% for over 65s, 14% overall) said the product was out of stock when ordered.
For consumers under 35, 60% said speed is less important, and instead prioritize lowest cost (28%), a precise delivery window (18%) or the most environmentally-friendly (14%) option. Still, 22% are looking for fast and precise deliveries, irrespective of cost, and 18% prefer the fastest delivery possible, with timeliness/convenience being less important.
“The bottom-line impact of negative delivery experiences remains a pressing concern for retailers and their delivery partners, especially with the pace of e-commerce growth steadying post-pandemic,” said Mavi Silveira, senior VP of global marketing at Descartes. “While small improvements in home delivery performance have been made over the past few years, they’re not currently reflecting the quality experience consumers are demanding, especially the valuable under 35 cohort, as poor delivery experiences risks the potential lifetime customer value of this demographic.”
Descartes and SAPIO Research surveyed 8,000 consumers in Europe and North America on their e-commerce buying behavior during the first three months of 2025. The full report can be found here.
